As if he knows I’m thinking about him, Nyx peeks over the top of his book, his eyes shining with a playful glint. “Your scent… it changed just now.”
I shift self-consciously, lowering my face as heat spreads across my cheeks. “Did it? That’s weird.”
“Yes…” The corner of his mouth lifts in a knowing smirk. “What were you thinking about just then? I have a theory, and want to see if I’m right.”
Rhune raises his head from my lap, gazing up at me with wide, hungry eyes. “I want to know, too.”
“I’m sure you would. That’s too bad.” I stick my tongue out at Nyx, which causes his chest to shake with laughter.
“Will you tell me?” Rhune asks, batting his lashes sweetly. “You could whisper it to me…”
I grin, leaning down to kiss the tip of his curved horn. “Maybe later. In bed,” I add in a whisper.
Rhune’s skin shivers with anticipation as his tail playfully flicks the air. “Really?”
“Really, really.”
“I can’t wait,” he says, burying his head between my thighs once more. “I wish later was now.”
I let out a soft laugh, reaching down to run my fingers through his soft pink hair. A wave of satisfaction thrums through our bond, and I let out a gentle sigh, allowing my eyes to close as I bask in the high.
Yes. Things are good here. I’m finally settling in. I’m happy.
That’s what makes me worry.
Despite all the wonderful things I’ve experienced in my time here, I can’t shake the feeling that something is so incrediblywrong.I can’t pinpoint exactlywhatit is, but I fear it has something to do with the nightmares I’ve been having lately.
Instead of my usual visions of that creepy upside-down tree, my dreams have been plagued with premonitions of a massive, worm-like creature chasing me through the maze-like tunnels of the underground lair. No matter how many turns I take or how hard I run, I can’t escape that gaping mouth and its horrible rotating, needle-like teeth. Typically, I wake when it inevitably catches up to me and swallows me whole—but not before I’m forced to witness Rhune, Nyx, Cin, and Dravik being torn apart by its greedy jaws.
I’m not sure how my mind conjured the horrible creature, or why it’s forcing me to live through such a traumatic event night after night, but at this point, I would gladly welcome back the creepy tree dreams.
My anxiety soars as the twisted visions continue to flash through my mind, and I’m so deeply entrenched I don’t realize my face has dropped.
“Willow? What’s wrong?”
I force my mouth into a smile, but I have a feeling it’s not very convincing. “Nothing at all. It doesn’t matter.”
“Okay. I believe you.” Rhune nods, ever-trusting. Nyx, however, isn’t buying it.
“Is it nothing, or does it not matter?” he asks, his cunning eyes narrowed and piercing right through my armor.
“It’s just… I’ve been having these dreams.”
He leans in, hanging on my every word. “About the tree?”
I shake my head, taking my lip between my teeth. “These are different. They’re more… violent.”
“Violenthow?”
I open my mouth to explain when an ice wyrm roar explodes underground, powerful enough to make the room feel like it’s tipping on its side. An icy chill runs the length of my spine as I wait for the call to end.
That’s the third one this cycle. And… it almost sounds like they’re getting closer.
I shake those thoughts away.I’m just worrying for no reason. The massive creatures are hundreds of miles beneath the surface. Nyx explained that there is no danger of running into them in these old tunnels.
Except, when I look at him, his expression is twisted in horror.
“Rhune,” he says, his voice a harsh whisper. “Grab Willow.”
